On April 20, 2013, the young owner of the popular shopping destination Standún Spiddal in Ireland, Cliona Standún, posted a project on the world’s largest outsourcing platform, Freelancer.com. She was searching for a solution to the missing product listings on the shop’s website (www.standun.com).

Cliona initially worked with a local web design company, which charged an expensive rate of €155 and required scheduled appointments that made it difficult to get revisions done affordably and quickly. Following a friend’s recommendation, she joined the Freelancer® community. “My friend had had positive experiences using Freelancer.com, and therefore I felt I could trust the site.”

Finding the right freelancer to do the job was a cinch. Based on feedback from previous jobs and her communication with bidders, she chose Pakistan-based IT solutions company ForeignTree to do the job. After assessing the problem, ForeignTree promised to deliver in three days; the firm did it in two. Since then, Cliona has hired the team several times. “I trust them and have built a good relationship with them. I know what to expect.”

Now that Cliona has found her bearings on the site, she is quick to dismiss her initial apprehensions. “Discussing the requirements in detail overcame my worry that the freelancer may not be able to solve the problem and may only be keen for the business. I also found it helpful that milestones could be set up and released when I was satisfied with the output. And the feedback gave great insight into how a freelancer worked. This is hugely important.”